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Sunday, September 1, 2013

Children
who interact with disabled children, or even watch them interact with
other nondisabled children, develop healthier attitudes toward those
with disabilities than kids who internalize their preconceptions, a new study found.

As rates of mental disabilities continue to climb — autism spectrum disorder (ASD) now affects one in 88 children
under eight years old, dropping to one in 54 for boys — the familiarity
with which children learn to grow up beside the disabled becomes
increasingly vital. According to a study conducted by University of Exeter Medical School,
increased exposure to people whose range of abilities is more limited
than others’ builds prolonged comfort, not only with the specific
disability, but also with encountering diversity more broadly later in
life.

“We have known for some time that integrating children with
disabilities into the regular classroom can improve attitudes,” study
author Megan MacMillan said in a statement. “What we have established here is just how much of a difference a greater presence in day-to-day life makes.”

Disabilities can range in nature and severity across all senses in a
person’s body. Simple physical deficits in hearing or vision fall on one
end of the spectrum, while debilitating mental impairments such as ASD,
schizophrenia, bipolar disorder,
and Tourette syndrome fall on the other — requiring significantly more
medical attention and possibly producing a raft of negative attitudes in
unaware, unfamiliar observers.

Hoping to overcome this discomfort, MacMillan’s study consisted of
1,520 children aged seven to 16 who completed a survey designed to
assess their attitudes, contact, empathy, and anxiety toward disabled
people. The doctoral candidate found that increased exposure reduced
feelings of anxiety, thus improving their overall attitudes toward the
disabled. Interestingly, her study showed the same results across direct
and indirect interaction exposure, “indirect” referring to the
observation of other nondisabled children playing with the disabled.

“Simply observing others interacting with disabled children or being
aware that others are friends with them can improve attitudes. This
‘indirect contact’ reduces anxiety and increases empathy towards
disabled people,” reads the statement released by the British
Psychological Society.

Discrimination stands as the greatest wall between nondisabled
children and those with mental or physical impairments. Often, negative
attitudes and unkind gestures come from a lack of understanding, which
produces unempathetic and anxious responses. Macmillan notes that these
attitudes typically stem from a place of fear, or discomfort, rather
than sheer malice.

“Schools
vary in the number of students with special educational needs and
disability,” she said. “We predicted that if children manage to make
more contact with disabled people, better relationships are built.”
Currently, an estimated 37 million to 56 million people live with a disability, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

About Me

I am full-time Mass Communication faculty at Towson University in Maryland and adjunct faculty in the City University of New York (CUNY) Master's in Disability Studies program.
I research media and disability issues and wrote a 2010 book on the subject: Representing Disability in an Ableist World: Essays on Mass Media, published by Advocado Press.
The media have real power to define what the public knows about disability and that's what I research.